Purity of heart and peacemaking.


This has been a busy week for me.  But the whole thing of purity of heart has been playing on my mind.   As most of you know, work is a struggle for me.  The environment is negative, and having a natural bent in that direction, I find it difficult to rise above and be the light God asks of me.

God's visit have been more of a "constant" than a specific moment in time.  As I am doing my job, I usually try to do my best.  But over the years I have come to understand this is more about pride than anything else.  It's more about me.  This, to me is not pure motive.  Questions arise:  Am I honoring God with this?  Am I being a blessing with this?  Is my attitude delighting my Lord?  And all of the answers would have to be no.

So of course, in doing my work, I tend to get stressed, sometimes even cranky and the next section in the "Set Apart" study is Blessed are the Peace Makers, which because I am acting out of impure (self, me me me, it's all about me) motives, I fail to be because now, when things go right, I am anything but peaceful (think, stressed, cranky, snippy, complaining....).

Well, this week the Lord started seriously convicting me on this, AT WORK.   This isn't the first I've heard of this from Him.  But generally it's been in my prayer closet, during my study time and then forgotten as I got about the busyness of the day, only coming up occasionally as a radar blip in this thick head of mine.

Many, many times this week, as I started stressing over something or other at work, I heard God say "you're to do this as unto me".  Over and over this happened.  And I am so grateful.  I really want this to be my motive.  I know if I am doing things just to please God, not myself, my pride, my reputation, then I will truly start to become more peaceful inside, and then my words and attitude will start to change on the outside.  Not only will I operate out of the pure heart the Lord calls us to, but I will become the peace maker that He desires.  Instead of joining in on the complaining and griping, I can speak words that bring peace to the atmosphere around me.

I know this won't happen right away, but I believe this "God visit" has begun a new thing.  And I am thrilled with it.  And am looking forward to see where it takes me.

Isaiah 43:19  For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.  

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Lord, thank You for the new thing You are doing.  Please help me to hear Your voice, every second of every day and obey quickly.  I want to be Your light in the darkness, to bring the river of Your love to dry places.